Novel oral anticoagulants for VTE prevention in orthopedic surgery: overview of phase 3 trials.

Outpatient use of anticoagulants to prevent venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee arthroplasty may be hampered either by requirements for parenteral administration or high variability and frequent monitoring of anticoagulant activity. Trials of the new oral direct factor Xa inhibitors rivaroxaban and apixaban and the direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran indicate that they can be administered in fixed doses without monitoring and that they generally have efficacy at least equivalent to enoxaparin, although with potential minor differences in the balance of efficacy vs risk for bleeding. This article reviews the results and pharmacokinetic properties that may influence their use in clinical practice.